SECRETARY'S REPORT. 121 



The industrial products of Massachusetts are more than two 

 hundred and ninety-six millions of dollars, of which forty-nine 

 millions only come from the soil, including two and one- 

 quarter millions in stone, coal, and marble, and in some 

 countries the proportion of agricultural to industrial products 

 is much less than is shown by the aggregate of State products. 

 We have, therefore, a large and near home market for our 

 agricultural products, — a market for much more than we raise ; 

 and at higher prices to the consumer in the large towns and 

 cities, than obtain in any quarter of the world. With many 

 articles of agricultural production we have also a demand 

 which cannot be interfered with from more distant points ; 

 with others, competition from a distance is only instituted 

 where the highest prices can be obtained, and then in early 

 summer, on account of the neglect of culture in Massachu- 

 setts. We have a good soil, too, notwithstanding the continual 

 cry, in which we all seem to join, of " barren and rock 

 bound New England." The light soils of New England, we 

 maintain, may be worked by thorough and systematic culture, 

 with less labor, and better returns than the heavier soils of 

 what are usually denominated more favored countries. We 

 except only rich alluvial deposits of some sections. We have 

 a climate as good as any in the world. Labor is higher than 

 in England, but not so high as in other sections of our own 

 country, in proportion to the value of the product. But we 

 have not learned to reduce the cost of labor by the introduction 

 of labor-saving machinery, in which, notwithstanding our apt- 

 ness at invention, we are behind many other countries. Nor 

 have we learned to reduce this cost by a judicious division 

 of labor, by systematic culture, and rotation by thorough culti- 

 vation of larger fields to a single crop, and by saving time and 

 labor in getting produce to market. We have a right to claim 

 at least as great a degree of intelligence, skill and economy, as 

 we grant to our mother country. The richest agricultural 

 districts in England have a natural soil no better than our 

 own. 



Why, then, does not our Commonwealth vie with England in 

 its herds and crops? England has milder winters and a climate 

 more moist than ours. But most crops suffer there from a 

 clouded sun and excess of moisture, and this superabundance 



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